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History of the Khaljis, A.D. 1290–1320 c13.s1: March Towards M'abar (1311)

History of the Khaljis, A.D. 1290–1320 c13.s1

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March Towards M'abar (1311)

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From Dwarsamudra Kāfūr started for M'abar¹⁹ on the 18th Shavvāl 710 (10th March, 1311). According to the author of *Futūhus Salātīn* the vanquished Hoysala now accompanied Malik Kāfūr on his expedition into the far south, and guided the path of the imperial general in an unknown country. The land through which the royal army marched was very unpropitious and hilly so much so that "the pointed stones tore the horse's hoofs;" and every night the soldiers slept on ground "more uneven than a camel's back." After five laborious marches they reached the frontier of M'abar. According to 'Iṣāmī a reconnaissance party consisting of great generals like Bahram Kara, Katla Nihang, Maḥmūd Sartiha and Abaji Mughal was attached with the royal forces. Every day one of these five commanders used to go in advance with a few persons who knew the language of that country, and used to bring news to the imperial commander about the affairs in the enemy territory. Suddenly Abaji Mughal thought of deserting the royal army and taking service under the Rai of M'abar. He even thought of killing Malik Kāfūr. He settled with some people that they would take him to the Rai of M'abar and secure for him an honourable job there. But as he was marching ahead of the main army his troops came in conflict with a detachment of the M'abar army. Abaji confused and perplexed, hurriedly retreated and joined Kāfūr. When the imperial general came to know of these developments he put Abaji in chains and continued to proceed onward.²⁰

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¹⁹ Pandya country was known to the Muhammadans by the name of M'abar. It extended from Quilon to Nellor, nearly 300 *farsangs* along the sea coast.

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²⁰ When Kāfūr returned to Delhi after his victory in M'abar Abaji Mughal was beheaded by the orders of the king. *Futūh*, pp. 288-91.

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The army marched on, and on crossing the two passes Tarmali²¹ and Tabar (Toppur) they arrived in the city of Mardi, the inhabitants of which place were massacred. Then starting from the river Kanobari they advanced to Birdhul.²² At the approach of the Muslim army the Rai of the place, Vīra Pandya, fled towards Kandur (identified with Kannanur).²³ But he did not feel secure and fled even from there towards the jungles. Malik Kāfūr was all the time chasing the Rai wherever he went. About 20,000 Musalmans of south India, who had fought on the side of the Hindus, now deserted to the imperialists and were spared.²⁴ With the help of these people the army tried to know the whereabouts of the flying king, but severe rains compelled them to fall back upon Birdhūl. The chase of the fugitive, however, was not given up and the army restarted from Birdhūl in his pursuit. "Torrents of rain fell from above and the army passed through places completely covered with water." Intelligence was brought that the Rai had fled to the city of Kandūr. The imperial army dashed towards the town but Vīra Pāṇḍya had fled even from there. Malik Kāfūr laid hand upon 120 elephants on which he found some treasure also. In fact the real aim of Malik Kāfūr was to destroy his enemy Vīra Pāṇḍya than to help his friend Sundara. In vain, however, did he massacre the people of Kandūr for the Rai had long before fled from that place. It was thought that he had fled towards Jāl Kūta.²⁵ Malik Naib marched in that direction but thorny forests forbad any persistent pursuit, and he again returned to Kandūr where he searched for more elephants and treasure. Meanwhile they had learnt much about the temples and treasures of the places lying in the vicinity of Kandūr. They came to know that at Barmatpūrī (Brahmapurī)²⁶ there

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²¹ Elliot has Sarmali; the Allahabad University Ms. has Talmali. It is difficult to identify it now.

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²² Prof. Aiyangar thinks it to be the headquarters of Vira (Bir) Pandya. Yule (*Ser Marco Polo*, II, p. 319) on the authority of A. Burnell suggests that it is Virdachellam of the maps, which is in south Arcot and about fifty miles north of Tanjore. Abul Feda in *Taqwimul Buldān* also calls Birdaval as the capital of the country of M'abar (Alqal Qāshindi pp. 38-9). There are old and well known temples there, and relics of fortifications. It is a rather famous place of pilgrimage. But place names like Birdhul, Jalkota, Sarmali and Kham are corrupt and difficult to identify.

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²³ Kannanur lies about 8 miles north of Trichnopoly town and was the Hoysala capital in the Chola country. For a detailed discussion about its identification see Aiyangar: *Invaders* p. 72 and Hodivala p. 257.

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²⁴ Describing the first expedition of Devagiri in 1296 Baranī says that before that time the people of the south had never heard of the Musalmans. He says (p. 222).

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²⁵ The Allahabad University Ms. has Jalkota. Prof. Aiyangar suggests that it can mean a water fortress, or an island protected by deep waters round it. *Invaders*, p. 111.

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²⁶ See Appendix B.

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خلق دیوگیر وقتی از اوقات و از زمان ماضی خبر اسلام نشنیده و هیچ گهی زمین مرهث را لشکری نما لیده -

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But this is incorrect. The fact that Kāfūr was joined by some Muslim subjects of the Hindu king clearly shows that at Kannanūr near Srirangam there was a settlement of Muhammadans. Muhammadans had come to south India as peaceful traders long before they had penetrated into north India as invaders.

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was a golden temple and that the elephants of the Rai had collected there. The temple was raided and 250 elephants were captured. The temple, like "the paradise of Shaddād, which after being lost, those 'hellites' had found" or the "Golden Lanka of Ram", was assaulted and its idol Ling-i-Mahadeva was broken. The foundations of this golden temple, which for centuries had been the object of worship of the Hindus were dug up. "The swords flashed where jewels had once been sparkling......and the heads of the Brahmans and idol-worshippers came dancing from their necks to their feet at the flashes of the sword".²⁷

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²⁷ *Khazain*. Habib Trs. pp. 103-05.

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Such is the poetic description of the destruction of the golden temple of Brahmastpuri (Chidambaram). The temple of Srirangam was also sacked, since all the temples near Kannanur (Kandur) were sacked, and this presumption is confirmed in a work called *Koyiloluhu*. The book is a record of gifts made, and repairs effected, to the temple of Sriranganatha in Srirangam. It is written in Tamil prose and gives almost a continuous thread of south Indian chronology from the 13th to the 16th century A.D. Its evidence is based on inscriptions on copper and stone and it forms a great source of historical value.²⁸ This book mentions that at the time of the sack of Srirangam, obviously under Malik Naib, it was under the charge of Arya Bhattas or northern Brahmans. They were overpowered and all the wealth of the temple including the idol of the god was taken away by the Muhammadans. There was a woman who did not take her food without having *darshan* of the idol every-day. She followed on the skirt of the retreating army in guise of a mendicant and ultimately reached Delhi. There the idol of Ranganatha was given to a princess of the royal household because she had taken a fancy for it. The woman finding the idol in safe custody returned to Srirangam. From there some people, under the guidance of the woman, went to Delhi, pleased the Sultan with their music, and brought the idol back. But the princess was not prepared to part with it; and the idol had been returned to the southerners only without her knowledge. She marched to the Deccan under an escort to seize the idol. It was at Tirupati that the people bearing the idol heard that the princess and her escort were following them. Not feeling safe the party broke up, leaving the idol in charge of three men, a father, his son, and the latter's maternal uncle. The fear of Muslim army made the three Hindus hide in a glen under an unfrequented hill. The princess, however, marched straight on to Srirangam and finding the temple deserted died of a broken heart. Sixty years passed. The father and the uncle died and the son grew up to be an old man of eighty. Feeling his end drawing near he showed himself to some hill-folk and told them the long story of how he was there. By then the power of the Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagar had been sufficiently established and the idol was reinstalled in the temple of Srirangam in 1370-71.²⁹

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²⁸ *Ind. Ant*. 1911 pp. 131-44. Article on *Koyiloluhu* by K. V. Subrahmanya.

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²⁹ Aiyangar, pp. 113-16.

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This romantic story is described about one single temple, but a very large number of them were destroyed and their wealth looted by Kāfūr. The temples of Birdhul to which the army marched from Brahmastpuri were also thoroughly sacked. The destruction wrought by Malik Kāfūr can well be imagined from the fact that in search of Vira Pandya the Muslim army went from place to place, and to some places many times over, and in their disappointment and rage at not finding the fugitive wherever they went, they destroyed edifices and killed people mercilessly.³⁰

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³⁰ In *Deval Rani* also Khusrau dwells at length upon the destruction of various temples in M'abar. (*Deval Rani* pp. 70-73). The temples were reservoirs of effluence and wealth. Hindu Rajas and other rich people presented them with gold and jewels and endowed villages for the maintenance of their establishments. Thus wealth multiplied in a temple without being spent on a large scale. The result was that whenever the Muslims attacked a place they sacked its temples in particular for despoiling them of their wealth. But in the rage of warfare fanaticism was naturally fanned and besides looting the wealth of the temple the invaders destroyed the very edifices and often threw their stones and idols at such places as could be trampled under the feet of the Musalmans.

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The royal army marched on. On the 15th of Zilq'ada (April 16th, 1311) they arrived in the city of Kūm (Elliot: Khām),³¹ and after some days they reached Madura, where Vīra was supposed to live. The Rai along with his family and treasures had fled away from there again and only two or three elephants were left in the temple of Jāgnār (rather Sokkanatha).³² Kāfūr's disappointment was terrible and in his impotent rage he set fire to it. By now his patience had been exhausted. He had relentlessly searched the Rai for weeks and months; in towns, in jungles and in hills, but everywhere in vain; and now finding that he had become master of so much wealth and had captured so many elephants, he decided to march back. Before marching homewards he ordered all the spoils to be arranged and classified. His gains consisted of 512 elephants (Baranī has 612), 5000 horses of various breeds like ‘Arabi, Yamani and Syrian³³ (Barani has 20,000 horses, 96,000 *mans* of gold), and 500 *mans* of jewellery of every description³⁴ With these rewards of his enterprise he broke his camp on Sunday the 4th Zilhijja (April 25th, 1311) to the extreme joy of everybody. They marched towards Delhi on the same rough paths on which they had marched down to the conquest of the south. They arrived in Delhi after an arduous journey of six months. Sultan ‘Alāūddin accorded a deserving reception to his victorious general and his troops. He held a Durbar in the palace of Hazār Situn in Siri on the 4th of Jamadus sani 711 A.H. (Monday, October 18th, 1311 A.D.)³⁵, where Malik Kāfūr presented before the Sultan all he had brought from the Deccan. Such was the wealth captured in south, says Barani, that since the capture of Delhi by the Muhammadans at no time had so much treasure been seized. On such occasions ‘Alāūddin did not fail to exhibit his generosity. He gave four, two, one and half a *man* gold to his nobles and Amirs.

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³¹ Probably Kadambavanam, a city now in ruins but remains of old fortifications exist. The particular locality now a days is called Kadambar Malai and lies about 11 miles from Pudukotta along the Trichnopoly road.

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³² Aiyangar (p. 100) contends the interpretation of Elliot that Jagnath is Jagannath or it was a temple dedicated to Jagannath or Vishnu. He says that Jagnar is a corruption of Sokkannath, which is an alternative name of Shiva or Sundresh, the patron diety of the town of Madura. The great temple of Sundeshvara is still a beautiful edifice in the town. See *Khazain*, Trans. Into. p. xxxii. *Hodivala* p. 257. *Imperial Gazetteer*, Vol. XXIII p. 108.

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³³ *Khazain*, p. 106. Khusrau does not exaggerate. Both Vassāf and Marco Polo bear testimony to the fact that from places like Qatif, Lahsa, Bahrin and Hormuz, a very large number of horses were imported into M'abar. Since the southerners did not give them proper diet, but dressed gram and milk, they died soon, and new ones were imported (Vassāf p. 302). Marco says about M'abar: "Here are no horses bred; and thus a great part of the wealth of the country is wasted in purchasing horses……merchants of Kis and Hormuz……and Aden collect great number of destriers and other horses" and bring them to M'abar (Yule: *Ser Marco Polo*, II, p. 324). The Hindus did not know cross-breeding which had been a secret art of the Arabs. That is why they had always to import good-breed horses.

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³⁴ *Khazain*, Habib Trs. pp. 106-7.

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³⁵ *Khazain*, Trs. p. 180 has 14th of Jamadius Sani, which is a slip because 14th was not Monday but Thursday. Elliot's and the Allahabad University Mss. have 4th of Jamad, which is correct.

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Ballāla Deva had accompanied Malik Kāfūr to Delhi. The Hoysala prince, after escorting Kāfūr on his march to M'abar and helping in its speedy destruction, had accompanied Kāfūr to Delhi. The sultan was very much pleased with Ballāla's assistance and loyalty. He gave him a special robe of honour, a crown and *chatr* and also presented him with a purse of ten lac of *tankahs*. The Hoysala chief stayed at Delhi for some time and then came back to Dwarsamudra, his territories having been restored by the Sultan.

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It is strange indeed that Amīr Khusrau and Barani, while describing the scence of the special reception arranged for Malik Naib Kāfūr, do not make mention of Ballāla Deva, who must have been an important figure there. But 'Isāmī describes how Ballāla was received by 'Alāuddīn.³⁶ That this prince also visited Delhi, as the Yadava Ram Chandra had done a couple of years back, is corroborated by an inscription, the translation of which reads: "When the Pratapa—Chakravartti Hoyisana Vira—Ballāla Devarasa was ruling a peaceful kingdom" ... .the Turkish invasion occurred, Ballāla went to Delhi, and on the occasion of his coming back from there (date specified May 6, 1313) "he released the taxes old and new.......etc."³⁷

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³⁶ *Futūh* p. 290.

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³⁷ *Epig. Carn.* Vol. VII, Shimoga Taluq, Inscription no. 68.

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*The Third Expedition to Devagiri (1313).*

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Next year (712-13 A.H.; 1312-13 A.D.) Malik Kāfūr was once more appointed to march into the Deccan. Ram Deva, the oldest and most faithful ally of Sultan 'Alāuddīn, had died some time in the year 1312 and was succeeded by his son. Ever since the Muslims had penetrated into the Deccan Singhana had been their avowed enemy. After the humiliating submission of his father in 1296 came another catastrophe, and Deval Rani, his betrothed, was snatched away from him. This latter event rekindled the flame of animosity in Singhana's heart. So great was his resentment that, if 'Iṣāmī is to be believed, even Ram Chandra was compelled to request 'Alā-uddin to help him in controlling Singhana against assuming open hostility to the Delhi government.³⁸ In 1312 or 1313 Singhana succeeded to the throne after the death of his father, and as could well be expected he stopped all connections with the sultanate and began to rule independently.

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³⁸ *Futūḥ* p. 274.

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Mean while Raja Pratap Rudra of Telingana, who had either been too much frightened or was unflinchingly true to his plighted troth, sent a score of elephants and a letter to 'Alāuddīn stating therein that he was prepared to pay the yearly tribute he had promised to whomsoever the emperor appointed for the purpose.³⁹ Malik Naib Kāfūr, who according to Ferishtah, was afraid of, and inimical to, the Malka-i-Jahān and her son Khizr Khan, requested the Sultan to send him to the Deccan to receive the tribute. He also promised to punish the refractory Singhana and clear the Deccan of disaffected elements.⁴⁰ 'Alāuddīn consented to the proposal of Malik Naib and appointed him to govern Devagiri after crushing the insolent Yadava prince.⁴¹

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³⁹ Ferishtah p. 122. Also Barani (p. 334). Khusrau does not mention anything about it because *Khazainul Futūḥ* had been completed in 711 and this event came off later.

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⁴⁰ *Ferishtah* p. 122.

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⁴¹ *Futūḥ* p. 326.

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Once again did Malik Kāfūr march into the Deccan crushing right and left any prince who raised his head. First of all he marched to Devagiri and engaged Singhana in a terrible battle. The valiant Maratha, who all his life was opposed to acknowledging the suzerainty of Delhi, could not stand the tempo of the attack and was killed in action. ‘Iṣāmī’s statement that the prince evacuated Devagiri without giving a battle lends itself to great doubt because Singhaṇa was never heard of again so long as Malik Naib remained in the Deccan. Even after Kāfūr’s return to Delhi, Harpal Deva, son-in-law of Ram Deva, and not Singhaṇa is mentioned as the ruler of Devagiri.

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Having retaken the Yadava territories Malik Naib attacked a few other cities far and near in the territories of Telingana and Hoysala, and inspired such terror into the hearts of the Deccanis that even the last remnants of opposition to the Delhi government were wiped out. When everybody had submitted Malik Kāfūr returned to Devagiri and fixed his headquarters there, and it was on account of his integrity and strength that the prestige and power of the sultanate were ever felt in Deccan until the death of the Sultan.⁴² Malik Naib sent some years’ tribute from Telingana and Carnatic kingdoms to the capital. He remained in the Deccan until about 1315 when ‘Alāuddīn, who had fallen seriously ill, called him back to Delhi.⁴³

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⁴² An inscription of ‘Alāuddīn Khaljī has been found in a village called Nalatward in the Muddebihal Taluka of the Bijapur district. It is dated 715 A.H. (1315-16 A.D.) and its language and epithets used for the king are the same as those used at Delhi in contemporary inscriptions. (*Arch. Sur Rep. 1929-30* p. 190). The inscription is published and translated in the *Epig. Indo-Moslemica 1927-28* pp. 16-17.

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⁴³ Barani does not mention this expedition to the south, but while describing the events of last days of ‘Alāuddīn he says that when the emperor fell seriously ill he called Malik Naib from the Deccan and Alp Khan from Gujarat (p. 368). This proves that in 1314-15 Malik Kāfūr was in the Deccan and must have gone there some time before. ‘Iṣāmī, however, writes about the death of Ram Deva, about Singhaṇa’s (whom he always calls Bhilam) recalcitrance, and about Malik Naib’s going to the Deccan and curbing all the refractory element there including the newly crowned king of Devagiri. (*Futūḥ* pp. 325-28). He also says that the sultan called his favourite general back to Delhi in connection with prince Shadi Khan's marriage with the daughter of Alp Khan, an event of the last days of ‘Alāūddīn's reign.

Cites (5)